The Son Also Rises

Joseph Marc in Los Angeles

When 22-year-old Gotham Chopra came out with a slim novel,
Child of the
Dawn two years ago, many people thought he was riding on
his father Deepak
Chopra's coat-tails. The novel, with a printing of 82,000
copies, was published
by Amber-Allen that had also issued Deepak Chopra's
The Seven
Spiritual Laws of Success.

Child of the Dawn, based on the principles in Success,
has earned back
more than the $ 15,000 the young author had received in
advance. But its
success was small compared to the 1 million copies Success
sold over the
last five years.

Gotham – who was known as Gautama then—made no secrets then
that he was
indeed using his father's reputation to launch his own
career. The novel – a
fable about the quest for meaning and happiness – was
published when he was studying English literature, religion and film at
Columbia
University. His father had stoutly defended his son’s
literary debut.

"If you are not using all the opportunities you have, you
would be a fool,"
the senior Chopra had told a reporter then. "The way we
think, karmically he
chose this, and he chose to be my son."

'When Gautama was 6 years old,' the senior Chopra wrote in
the preface, '… he
told me that we had met before, a long time ago on a bridge
near a mountain
in Tibet, and that we were in the habit of switching souls.'

But today Gotham is his own man – at least eight million
children who watch
him on cable television as part of their social studies will
vouch to that.
As an anchor and reporter for Channel One, his program is
watched in 12,000
schools across America. He is also the story editor of the
comic book,
Bulletproof Monk, about a Kung-Fu fighting Buddhist. Several
articles in
newspapers and magazines including The New York Times will
agree with the
teen fans of Gotham Chopra that he is one of the most
watched twenty-plus
person in America.

His fond father, Deepak Chopra, says his son is wiser and
more mature of the
two of them.

"When I was his age I was filled with uncertainties," the
senior Chopra says.
"I always wanted outside references."

"He is his own man, he listens to his own inner self, and
will not
automatically accept advice from someone, never mind how
great a reputation
that person has," Deepak Chopra says. Perhaps the son is the
real karma yogi
"He is far less attached to outcome than I am."

Even the decision to change Gautama into Gotham was his own,
the father says.

Gotham says he did not change the spelling in his name for
numerological
reasons but he was tired of it being mispronounced. He
readily admits Gotham
sounds more hip.

Being hip has its own advantages, he says. His newsprogam,
for instance,
brings to the class room serious issues such as the Kosovo
war which most
teenagers would not be interested in.

"The constant challenge is to engage and excite the youth,
without
trivializing an issue like Kosovo," he says, "so that they
will pay attention
to world events."

Though he was born and raised in Boston, Gotham, who has
extensively
traveled and visits India every second year, feels the urge
to bring the
world into American classrooms. Not just the world, he says,
he also wants to
inform American kids about the "strangers" amidst them.

Recently he produced a documentary about Muslim immigrants;
included in the
interviews were several teenagers from the Indian
subcontinent.

"Many Americans think of terrorists and fundamentalists when
they think of
Islam," he says. "By showing to young Americans that Muslim
teenagers are
just like us – that they want to have friends, want to do
well in life, want
to have fulfilling careers – I hope the message reaches
American parents."

He says he admires the moralistic passion among the young
Muslim immigrants.
"They want to lead upright lives, they do not want to drink
or smoke… and
they love and respect their parents. They are good role
models."

His parents – Deepak and Rita -- are excellent role models,
too, Gotham says.
The Chopras have two children – the older one, Mallika, has
returned to
America after an Indian sojourn to pursue a masters program
in business.

"They know the art of gentle persuasion," he says.

He regrets he does not have his father's medical expertise.
"But then, I am a
product of bicultural upbringing," he says. "I talk and deal
with today's
generation on my own terms. I understand their language and
subculture."

And in his shows he talks to them in their language. He
recently presented
astronomer and former Senator John Glenn as a latter day
Icarus. When the
Super Bowl was approaching, Gotham traveled to Mexico to the
Mayan handball
courts to show his viewers that the warrior impulse has
been part of
history for centuries. He would loved to have shot the
segment in India but
Mexico is a few hours flight from his Beverly Hill home. He
also has a home
in New York since his girl friend goes to school on the East
Coast.

Gotham says he plans to write books about spirituality
geared to the young
generation. The first of those books is due at the end of
the year.

Very few of his readers would know his father, even though
Deepak Chopra’s
two dozen books have sold some eight million copies in 25
languages.

"So we have our own worlds and audiences," he says. "But
then, who knows,
some of his readers may want to read my books, and my
readers may want to
check out his work."

The senior Chopra is not waiting for that connection to
happen. He is already
out with his second novel,Lords of Light, a spiritual
sci-fi story aimed
at mostly young readers.

Will there be friendly competition between the father and
son?

"He is the real story teller," says Deepak Chopra with a big
chuckle. "He has
been writing stories from his childhood. I am new to this."

Karmically, the two could work on a book together. "Anything
is possible,"
says Gotham with a chuckle. "But frankly we have never
thought about it."